1. Technical Field
Embodiments of this disclosure relate to a sheet conveyor to sandwich and convey a sheet, such as a sheet of paper or a sheet-type recording medium, with a conveyance belt, a belt-type cooling device employing the sheet conveyor, and an image forming apparatus including at least one of the sheet conveyor and the cooling device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image forming apparatuses are used as printers, facsimile machines, image forming apparatus, plotters, or multi-functional devices having, e.g., two or more of the foregoing capabilities. As one type of image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet of paper or a sheet-type recording medium, an image forming apparatus is known that includes a sheet conveyance assemble to sandwich and conveys the sheet of paper or the sheet-type recording medium with a pair of endlessly-movable conveyance belts. For example, an image forming apparatus includes the following sheet conveyor.
The sheet conveyor includes a first conveyance belt and a second conveyance belt to sandwich and convey a sheet. The sheet conveyor also includes two gears to engage each other in a sandwich state in which the sheet is sandwiched with the first conveyance belt and the second conveyance belt and disengage from each other in a separation state in which the sheet is not sandwiched with the first conveyance belt and the second conveyance belt. For example, the sheet conveyor includes a first gear (drive transmission gear) coupled to a first driving roller for endlessly moving the first conveyance belt and a second gear (drive transmission gear) to rotate a second driving roller for endlessly moving the second conveyance belt. During maintenance, such as sheet jam processing (clearance) or replacement of conveyance belts, the sheet conveyor can perform switching operation between a sandwich state in which the first conveyance belt and the second conveyance belt are disposed opposing and in proximity to each other to sandwich a sheet and a separation state in which the first conveyance belt and the second conveyance belt are separated from each other to allow an operator to remove a jammed sheet or a conveyance belt. In conjunction with the switching operation between the sandwich state and the separation state, the sheet conveyor engages the first gear and the second gear with each other in the sandwich state and moves the first gear to a position at which engagement of the first gear and the second gear is released in the separation state.